Wind Generated Revenue

The News-Gazette had a bunch of information today on what those wind turbines all over the County are generating, and it's not just electricity. From today's paper:

Analysis: Four wind farms, 329 turbines generate $9.9 million across area
For those whose homes butt up against one, wind turbines can be the sort of nuisance that leads to less sleep, more trips to the car wash and spotty TV reception, critics charge.

But for cash-strapped school districts, community colleges and township governments around the area, those tall, white, spinning electricity generators you see up and down Interstate 57 help pay the bills — and then some.

As Ford County officials prepare to meet Monday to discuss whether it's time to lift their six-month wind farm moratorium, The News-Gazette analyzed two years' worth of property tax revenue data to determine which towns, townships, districts and counties benefited most from the area's turbines — now at 329 and counting.

Among our findings:

— In 2016 and '17, the three area counties with wind turbines — Champaign (32 of them), Ford (144) and Vermilion (153) — received more than $9.9 million in tax revenue from wind farm projects.

— Between them, the tiny Armstrong High School and Armstrong-Ellis Grade School districts — which pull in approximately 210 students from Champaign and Vermilion counties — received more than $2 million in wind farm tax revenue the past two years.

— Fire districts in the three counties received $191,650 last year alone. That went toward purchases that ranged from new gear to replacing an old fire truck, which the Vermilion County village of Rankin did.

— Parkland College received just over $40,000 in revenue last year — far less than the $135,479 Danville Area Community College took in but still "very meaningful," said Christopher Randles, the Champaign college's chief financial officer and treasurer.

"That's about the rate of a full staff member," Randles said. "And there's other ways you can try to translate it."

The article then has this chart (click to enlarge) and another blurb on Champaign County specifically:

For Champaign County, the $60,000 in annual wind farm revenue is "nice," as Treasurer John Farney put it, "but a drop in the bucket" in the grand scheme of a $115 million budget.

In Vermilion County, it means much more.

The presence of wind farms has allowed that county to keep its tax rates low — "and lessen them even," Treasurer Darren Duncan said.

"Wind farms are among the top 10 taxpayers in Vermilion County," he added. "In our county, revenue and economic development have been stagnant. So they're a blessing there."

What both Vermilion and Champaign counties have in common, though, is the way the tax bills vary from turbine to turbine, land parcel to land parcel. Sometimes by just a few dollars at a time.

One parcel in the California Ridge Wind Farm, for example, pays $1,971.24 annually to the Champaign County government. Another pays $1,965.16. Another, $2,029.60.

Sasha Green, tax extension specialist with Champaign County, explained that variations in taxing districts make those totals different. They're based on different assessed values, which can vary by just a few hundred dollars. But they're all meant to be about the same.

More area-wide information and other details in the full article.